Improvement in hand-stamps



UNITED STATES PATENT oEETcE.

ALEXANDER SELKIRK, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO JOHN GIBSON,

JR., OF THE SAME PLACE.

IM PROVEM ENT IN HAND-STAM PS.

I Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 81,415, dated August 25, 1868.

' operated with greater ease and facility, and,

when printing the name of place or persons,

will at the same time indelibly affix the date,

and perfectly cancel any stamp, note, or paper desired; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and the letters of reference marked thereon, in which- K Figure l is a perspective view. Fig. 2 is a cross-section.

\ The same letters refer to like parts.

A, Figs. l ,and 2, is a hollow cylinder, of cast or wrought metal, of suitable form and size, on the lower end of which is cut or cast the name of the person or place in reverse, as is now used for printing. Starting out from one side of this cylinder is a socket, b, or its l equivalent, to which is affixed the'handle c.

Within then cylinder A, Fig. 2, works the loaded shaft or plunger B, either round or square, and is prevented from turning by the set-screw d, Fig, I, which screws through the cylinder' A, and works in the oblong'slot e in the plunger B, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 2. This set-screw d is so placed, in relation to the slot c, that the plunger can only have a vertical movement to a limited distance. The loaded plunger is held up, and its return movement, after giving an impression, is effected by a suitable elastic spring, f, of rubber or its equivalent. The lower end of the plunger terminates in an inverted T-shaped dovetail, g, that locks into recesses s s, made in the interior type-block hh, which type-blocks i work downward, and return with the plunger B, when an operation is performed. These type-blocks have their printing or impressing letters or characters formed of needle-points, either round, oval, or any othersuitable form for perforating, which project downward to a sufficient length to" give the required depthl of perforation into the letter or paper desired to be stamped or canceled. p

The method or manner of operating this stamp is this: The operator grasps the handle c, and holds it as he would any ordinary hammer, and inks the stamp by striking its typeend lightly on theink-pad; then the letter or paper (letter c', Fig. 2) to be stamped or canceled is struck with sufficient force, not only t0 print the outer name, but also, by au impetus imparted to the plunger B, to cause the needle-pointed type to penetrate the paper or letter to the desired depth, thus marking in a permanent and ineffaceable manner, not only the envelope and its stamp, if a letter, but also` permanently afixing the date of mailing, by perforating the several folds of the paper within.

If desired, this manner of stamping and canceling can be performed by a stamp not provided with a side-projecting handle, c and in such case I dispense with the ball or heavier part of the plunger, and substitute in its place a wooden handle, as is now used in ordinary handstamps; or, again, the stamping and cancellin g can be effected by any press combining the same principles in the vertical movements of these stamping parts, andthe needlepointed types can be substituted in place of the inkprinting type, if desired, so that the whole stamp, or any portion thereof, may be made of needle-points.

What I claim as my invention, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The loaded plunger B, with its slot c, setscrew d, the dovetail or T-shaped terminus of the plunger B, in combination with the typeblocks h h, with their recesses s s, or their equivalents, substantially for the purpose set forth and described.

2. The socket b, or its equivalent, and the handle c, in combination with the outer cylinder A, for the purposes set forth and described.

3. In combination, the cylinder A, with its printing-type end, the loaded plunger B, as described,the elastic spring f, the perforatingtype l1. h, handle-socket b, or its equivalent, and the handle c, all in combination, substantially for the purpose set forth.

ALEXANDER SELKIRK. Witnesses:

WM. H. GREENE, JOHN H. WALSH. 

